Toulouse: always queuing in front of pharmacies to get tested
The entry into force of the vaccination pass has not slowed down screening tests. Patients and contact cases jostle in front of pharmacies. Reporting.
While the vaccine pass came into force on Monday, the waiting files in front of the establishments which offer antigenic or PCR tests are not weakening. Hundreds of Toulouse residents are still being tested every day, for the education of their children or to respect their period of isolation.
In front of the Rouget Pharmacy in Saint-Cyprien, a dozen people waiting, either to be tested, or the result of a test. And it’s the same inside the establishment. According to Océane, employee in this pharmacy “We carry out more than 200 tests per day. […] there is a queue from the opening until 7 p.m. in the evening”.
And for good reason, this pharmacy offers to carry out antigenic tests without an appointment, has chosen rare in Toulouse where you have to wait at least twenty-four hours before obtaining a slot in an establishment listed by Doctolib. This requires special organization. “We made a special team for prescriptions and a special team for tests. Otherwise we can’t get out of it,” continues the pharmacist.
Pharmacies are overwhelmed
As evidenced by the queue in front of the pharmacy, the waiting time for the test and its result is long. Tatiana and her daughter waited more than an hour and a half before being taken care of by a pharmacist. In case of contact, this mother who admits that she no longer understands the indications recommended by the health protocol comes all the same to be tested preventively. But that means encroaching on his personal time. “My daughter has a train to catch at two o’clock, we arrived at noon and there it is three thirty and we are still there”.
Vaccinated or not, the diet is the same. “We receive patients who have three doses and who are positive. At least half of the people we test during the day are positive,” says Océane. What could help unclog pharmacies would be to carry out care, even a test at home. “It frees us up a bit,” explains the pharmacist. But if the customers are positive, they come back to us to confirm it… it makes us feel a little bit lighter, but not enough”.